Welcome to London
by Eosophobia-3
Summary: Set before Alex arrives... The team have just transferred to London and are on their first case: a young girl has been shot and someone is dealing weapons... Chris meets Shaz for the first time but we he lose her at the first hurdle? Chris/Shaz
1. First Impressions

**Okay, so this is my first Ashes to Ashes fic and I'm quite excited about it!**

**Its set before Alex actually gets to the eighties, just after the team have transferred down south. I really like the Chris and Shaz relationship so there's a lot of that in here as well as the rest of the team… enjoy :)**

**Chapter 1 – First Impressions**

Gene Hunt walked into the bright yet smoky room with the black and white ceiling tiles and glanced sideways at a portly man in a bright green shirt who looked up and quickly dropped his feet from his desk. Hunt took in his surroundings as he strode towards the main office, _his _office, his crocodile boots clunking heavily on the floor; the small tin trash cans were overflowing with balled up pieces of paper, ash trays were overflowing with cigarette stubs and the air had the stale smell of whisky and fag ends. _Brilliant_, he thought, _everything seems to be in order_. He turned the handle of the glass door in front of him and stepped into the office. It was somewhat smaller than the one in Manchester but it would do. He sat down solidly in a worn looking leather chair and leaned back, closing his eyes, _This will do nicely_.

Ray Carling walked along the dimly lit grey corridor, he lit a cigarette and inhaled deeply before releasing the dark smoke into the air; it swirled in front of him and then dissolved into nothingness. A young woman in a non-existent red leather skirt stormed past him, almost knocking him over in the process; his eyes followed her extremely long legs and he plucked the stick from his mouth, allowing his jaw to hang open. He whistled and smiled to himself, _Bloody hell, and I thought the skirts in Manchester were short_. He shoved the cigarette between his lips and strolled towards the double doors of the main room.

Chris Skelton tumbled backwards through the swinging doors of the CID headquarters; the cardboard box in his arms began to topple but he managed to catch it before it tipped the contents of his old desk onto the floor. He turned around to face nine or ten smirking faces and straightened up, attempting to look nonchalant. Ray was sitting with his feet on his desk reading the newspaper and some of the other officers were playing cards and staring at dirty magazines with wide eyes and open mouths.

Chris looked around for the desk with his name plate on but caught the eye of a slim girl with short dark hair and big brown eyes. She was in her black and white uniform and was sitting behind a large typewriter with a pile of documents beside her; she seemed to be the only one in the room doing any work. She smiled widely at Chris but he just stared back with blank eyes. He continued to stare as he walked forward and went flying over the top of a pile of newspapers. The cardboard box in his hands flew through the air, sending his magazines and special mug skidding across the floor towards the Guv's office. A cheer went up through the room and a few people started to clap as Chris' face flushed scarlet.

"Chris you bloody div", Ray shook his head and returned to reading his newspaper.

Chris gathered his belongings swiftly and shoved the box onto his new desk, he kept his eyes down, not wanting to fall into those huge brown ones of that plonk. He leaned over towards Ray and whispered,

"Ray", his moustached friend continued to read the paper, all Chris could see was the trail of smoke from Ray's cigarette, "Ray!" ray sighed and slapped the paper onto his desk,

"What man?"

Chris lowered his head and tried to speak as quietly as possible, "Who's she?"

"What?" Ray's face screwed up as he tried to hear what Chris was saying.

"Her, the plonk, who is she?"

"Chris I can't hear a bloody word you're sayin' mate", Ray picked up his paper again but Chris grabbed his arm and forced him to lean closer,

"_Her!_" he gestured towards the brown-eyed girl, "Do you know her name?"

Ray shoved Chris' hand off of his arm and frowned, "No I bloody don't! Now get off 'us you puff".

Chris nodded and leaned back in his chair; he pulled a car magazine out of his box and lit a cigarette.

Sharon Granger peered over the top of the paper in the typewriter in front of her, towards one of the new DC's that had transferred down from Manchester. She'd caught his eye when he'd walked in and she'd also gotten a very nice view of his arse in those tight white jeans when he'd tripped over.

Chris stood up and placed his magazine on his desk and stubbed out his cigarette; he wound his way past Ray and made his way towards the brown-eyed girl who was sitting behind her typewriter,

"Hiya, I'm Chris, er, DC Skelton", Chris smiled and Sharon continued to type, "I er, like your, er, typewriter".

Sharon looked up and raised her dark eyebrows, she looked into Chris's eyes, causing him to stare for a moment, and then she spoke in a strong Essex accent, "Shaz".

Chris shook his head to clear it and a puzzled look spread across his face, "What?"

"My name. It's Shaz, or Shazza if you like", she smiled and got back to her typing.

"Oh, right, yeah. I like it. Shaz", Chris said her name like it was sacred and stood a moment longer.

"Is there anything else DC Skelton?"

"Er, no", he cleared his throat, "Nope".

Chris made his way back to his desk and Ray scoffed, "Puff", before he could sit down.

The Guv stormed out of his office, causing the glass door to bang loudly against one of the desks. He stood a moment as everyone in the room stared at him, cautiously awaiting his next words,

"Right you lazy bastards I've just been informed that some scrawny twat thinks he can sell guns in my city and someone has used one on a seventeen year old girl", he turned to Ray and Chris, "Raymondo, Christopher, you're with me".

Chris and Ray got to their feet with a simultaneous "Yes Guv".

The Guv continued, "The rest of you I want names of anyone with previous convictions for arms dealing or anything to do with guns, got it?" He turned to Shaz who looked a little dumbstruck by Hunt's way of communicating to his officers, "You. Er-"

"-Shaz", she said.

"Whatever. Get these men some coffee; they can't work with mouths as dry as Chris' trouser department in a strip club now can they?"

"Yes Sir", Shaz walked towards the kitchen area with her eyes down and an expression of annoyance etched onto her features.

Hunt, Ray and Chris marched towards the double doors at the end of the room, ready to face their first case in their new department,

"Right", said Gene, "Let's fire up the Quattro".


	2. Dead Bodies under Red Lights

**Chapter 2 – Dead Bodies under Red Lights**

The red car spun to a halt at the end of the street, causing Chris to smack his head off of the window in the back seat. Hunt stepped out slowly as did Ray, who lifted the seat to allow Chris to stumble out behind him.

Two uniformed policemen were standing over a young girl dressed in a skin tight black dress and a few other scantily clad ladies were standing in nearby doorways smoking cigarettes and looking worried. Hunt stepped forward and the policemen parted, allowing him through; Ray followed.

"Bloody Nora", said Ray through a plume of smoke.

Hunt hunkered down and looked at the dead body lying in front of him. The girl lying on the floor looked about seventeen with short dark hair and baby blue eyes. Her eyes stared up at the sky blankly as she lay unmoving on the pavement.

"Bloody shame", Gene Hunt covered the body with a black plastic sheet and got to his feet.

Chris appeared beside Ray and spoke quickly, "The plods say she was a hooker, had been for a few weeks. Some of the other girls saw her leave late last night with a man".

Hunt looked towards Skelton, "Who? What did he look like?"

"Dunno Guv. They said it was dark. But they said that Stacey new him".

"Stacey?"

Chris nodded, "Yeah", he looked at his note pad, "Stacey Gordon, aged seventeen. No known relatives and the only friends she had work here".

Hunt looked down the street at the half naked, half dead slappers waiting in the doorways with their fags and long legs. He curled his lip and waved his hand towards the women,

"Raymondo, Chris, I want you to take these lovely ladies down to the station. If they know something they can tell us there".

"Yes Guv", Ray nodded and started to gather up the women with a large grin on his face. Chris followed, a little more cautiously.

*****

Hunt ploughed his way through the sea of long legs and big tits at the station and stepped into the CID's headquarters with a frown on his face. Shaz looked up but swiftly dropped her gaze from his in fear of being told to fetch coffees again.

"Right", Gene Hunt spoke loud and clear, "Does anybody know anything about any prossies being murdered recently?"

The room was silent. Tumbleweed would not have looked out of place at that moment in time.

He raised his voice, "Hello? Am I speaking to myself here?!"

Shaz spoke in a subdued voice, "There _was_ something last month-"

"-I'm sorry", Gene interrupted, "I wasn't wanting to know what type of skirt the girlies like to wear now. This is real murder here, right?"

"Yeah but-"

Gene dragged his thumb and forefinger across his lips like a zip, "Shut it Kate Bush, I'm trying to deal with a murder. I'm not asking for fashion advice". With that he stormed out of the room and marched into the interview room where Ray was sitting across from a twenty-something year old blonde with a rack the size of two ripe melons.

Gene's eyes almost fell out of his head, "Blimey. That top's so low I can see from here that you're not a virgin".

Ray smirked and gestured at the girl with his curly head, "Lauren Swan. She says she knows the fella who picked up Stacey last night".

Gene leaned forward and glared into the bleary eyes of the blonde woman, "Come on then, who is he?"

Lauren lit a fag with shaking fingers and blew out a jittery puff of smoke, "His name's Frank. He owns a nightclub on the corner of our street".

"Stacey knew him. How?"

Lauren looked away from the Guv's eyes, a look of pain and terror behind her own, "I don't know".

Gene slammed his hands against the table, "Stacey is dead Miss Swan and God knows how many more there'll be if we don't catch this bastard. Now tell me how Stacey knew Frank"

Lauren shuddered, "She sometimes took packages for him to different people. Clients".

"What sort of packages?"

"I don't know".

Ray shouted, causing Lauren to jump, "Do you want this bastard to roam free?! To kill someone else?"

Lauren shook her head, "No", she looked up into Gene's eyes, "I'm sorry. I don't know what the packages were. Stacey never said".

Gene sighed, "Alright love, go on, get yourself home".

Lauren got up and walked out of the room, leaving her half-smoked cigarette lying in the ashtray on the table. Ray stubbed out his own fag and got to his feet, the Guv followed,

"Right Raymondo, I think we should pay this Frank fellow a visit don't you?"

Ray followed Hunt as he stormed through the crowd of women once again. Hunt gestured towards Chris and he stepped in line behind them, trying to keep up and not get lost in the throng of short skirts and big hair.

**Thanks for reading!**

**Reviews are always appreciated!**

**More chapters soon :)**


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